The organisers of a petition have spoken out about the 'horrendous' animal rule which sparked it. Mandy and Tiya hope to make it law that drivers have to stop at the roadside if they hit a cat. Currently, it is legal in the UK to not stop or report the incident. This can lead to the animal being 'scared, alone, and in pain,' the petition states.
Petition Background
A statement on the petition site says: 'It is legal in the UK to hit a cat when driving and not need to stop or report collisions, leaving them scared, alone, and in pain. Cats are important, loved, valued family members for many and we believe the law should reflect this. We want the Government to legislate to require drivers to stop, check and report any road collisions with cats if they're injured on the road, and hold drivers accountable if they fail to stop and report a collision involving a cat on the basis they left a cat to unnecessarily suffer.'
'We believe asking drivers to be made responsible for seeking help for an injured cat is a perfectly reasonable and simple ask.'
Fastest Growing Petition
The organisers now say that the petition is the fastest growing in the UK and has gained more than 50,000 signatures. If this reaches 100,000, then the issue will be discussed in parliament.
Mandy and Tiya told BirminghamLive: 'We began the petition as a result of our campaign which started because our cats were hit by cars and left on the road for dead. We, as I'm sure all cat owners will agree, can appreciate some level of danger having free roaming animals, as we can all reasonably expect some level of danger every time we leave the house and cross roads. Accidents will sadly always happen and what we don't want to do is penalise good drivers and decent people who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in the unfortunate position of having hit a cat when driving.'
'What we can not accept and do not understand is the drivers that drive off and leave the cats scared, alone, in pain, or worse, roadside. Not stopping to help a cat, or any animal, is unforgivable in our view and we want the law to stand with us on that. We do not want drivers to have criminal records or pay our vet bills, we simply want drivers to help our cats should the worst happen. If they fail to do so, we want them to, by law, be accountable and face justice.'
'We've been here a long time, and we refuse to go away until the Government acknowledges cats matter just as much as dogs do, and they deserve the law to reflect this. We're aiming to reach 100k and get this petition to go to debate in Parliament. There we will challenge the Government's outdated view that cats are not working animals, or are too small for drivers to realise they have hit them - even though the current law requires drivers to stop, help and report it if you hit 23 dog breeds that are smaller than a cat.'
Click here to read the petition.
